From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Tue Aug 26 2003 - 18:22:33 MDT
On Tue, 26 Aug 2003, Adrian Tymes wrote:
Mitch (I think),
> We cannot fly to Mars on dreams alone.
There is *more* than enough energy stored in plutonium
"archived" in various locations to send us to Mars
several times over.
At the same time one must consider that we may not get to
fly to Mars (ever).
> Economic viability does not depend purely on the
> technology available, but also on the infrastructure.
This is important to keep in mind -- both from a production
standpoint and a cleanup standpoint. One wants a total
cost solution.
Just so you know the numbers (read em and weep (perhaps)).
In terms of Enriched Uranium, the U.S. has 645 *tons*
while Russia has 1,050 tons. In terms of plutonium
(which can create smaller bombs), the U.S. has 100 tons
while Russia has 160 tons. According to my calculations
that translates into a potential for 194,000+ nuclear weapons.
Please note that I am talking *tons*, while when one talks
nuclear weapons sizes one talks the vicinity of dozens (or less)
of "pounds" or "kg".
The material is not allocated in a "maximal number of weapons"
pattern. (e.g. minimal weapon yield per quantity of weapons class
material -- so the probable number of weapons is lower due to
the desire to produce weapons of greater destructive power).
Also, much of the material is probably in storage as weapons are
dismantled. But make no mistake -- we (the U.S. and the Russians)
have significant capability to set humanity back for dozens to
hundreds of years should "something" happen -- perhaps long
enough to allow an asteroid or a gamma ray burst to wipe out
humanity entirely.
Robert
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